Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tritrichomonas foetus infection and gut bacteria in pet cats
By Sui, Yuzhen et al.·Published in Preventive veterinary medicine·2024·College of Veterinary Medicine, China·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Gut microbiota and Tritrichomonas foetus infection: A study of prevalence and risk factors based on pet cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of pet cats in central China was tested for a parasite called Tritrichomonas foetus, which can cause chronic diarrhea and colitis. Out of 898 cats, about 6% were found to be infected, with higher rates in young cats that had not been dewormed or vaccinated. The infection changed the balance of bacteria in their guts, increasing some harmful types while decreasing beneficial ones. This study highlights the importance of monitoring gut health in cats, especially those showing signs of diarrhea, and suggests that specific bacteria could help identify T. foetus infections.
People also search for: cat diarrhea causes · Tritrichomonas foetus treatment · cat gut health · young cat diarrhea · cat deworming importance
Abstract
Tritrichomonas foetus (T. foetus) is a protozoal pathogen that infects cats and constitutes a significant cause of chronic colitis and diarrhea. Perturbations in the gut microbiota (GM) are affected by Trichomonas infection. Furthermore, dysregulation of the host GM enhances Trichomonas pathogenicity. However, it remains unclear whether the occurrence of diarrhea is associated with a dysregulation in GM following T. foetus infection in cats. Hence, the primary objective of this investigation was to explore the correlation between T. foetus infection and dysregulation in GM by analyzing fecal samples obtained from pet cats in Henan Province, central China. We randomly collected 898 fecal samples from pet cats living in 11 prefectural cities within Henan Province, and T. foetus was screened with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification based on the 18 S rRNA gene. Subsequently, six T. foetus-positive and six T. foetus-negative samples underwent analysis through 16 S rRNA gene sequencing to evaluate the gut microbiota's composition. The overall prevalence of T. foetus infection among the collected samples was found to be 6.01% (54/898). Notably, a higher prevalence of infection was observed in young, undewormed, unimmunized, and diarrheic pet cats. T. foetus infection was found to significantly alter the composition of the pet cat fecal microbiota, leading to dysfunctions. Moreover, it resulted in a substantial increase in the abundance of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Phascolarctobacterium spp., while decreasing the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) and the abundance of Actinobacteria, Clostridiaceae_Clostridium spp., Phascolarctobacterium spp., SMB53 spp., and Blautia spp. We constructed ROC curves to assess the diagnostic value of specific bacterial taxa in discriminating T. foetus infection. The analysis revealed that Proteobacteria and Clostridiaceae_Clostridium spp. were the most reliable single predictors for T. foetus infection. This finding suggests that alterations in the GM may be strongly associated with T. foetus infections.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38518658/